OLRFMS has MOVED!

Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society Moves to Miami

Dear Friends,

We want you to be the first to know that Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society, the U.S.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to increase support and awareness for Our Little Roses Ministries in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, has moved to Miami.

Here's our new address and contact information:

  Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society Inc.

  525 NE 15th St., Suite 100

  Miami, FL  33132-1411

  olrfms@ourlittleroses.org

  Ph:  305.401.0378

  Fx:  305.375.8054

  1-800-849-9252

Let me also introduce myself. In November, following Beverley Allison's unexpected passing, Bishop Leo Frade, chairman, and the board of directors of OLRFMS asked me to serve as Acting Executive Director of OLRFMS to ensure that the important work of securing support for Our Little Roses Ministries in Honduras continued.

Our efforts these last several months have focused on relocating the office to Miami with the planned sale of the property on which the offices were located. We ask your patience and understanding as we move through this transition. Please feel free to call or email us if you have any questions.

At the same time, we also say goodbye and thank-you toBetty Lou Roberts and Joanne Matthews, who worked closely with Beverley and served OLRFMS for 13 and 19 years, respectively. Both have done a tremendous job over the years and have worked especially hard these last several months to prepare the Virginia office for closing and moving to Miami.

Joining me in Miami as Development Services Manager isKatrina Davey. You can reach her at 305.401.0378 or at OLRFMS@ourlittleroses.org. Katrina brings a wealth of experience from her years at United Way-Miami and, most recently, Friends of Trinity Cathedral, Miami.

Finally, as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Diana Frade's founding of Our Little Roses in San Pedro Sula, the board of OLRFMS has adopted several goals intended to secure a strong financial foundation for Our Little Roses Ministries -- expanding the number of sponsors, increasing general support and expanding the number of regional special events. Each of these goals ultimately ensures a secure financial foundation to meet the ongoing and pressing needs and services of the ministry -- and the girls.

Words are not enough to thank you for your support. I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead as together we continue to support the vital work of Our Little Roses Ministries in Honduras.

God's peace and blessings!

Cheryl

Cheryl D. Chapman, PhD

Acting Executive Director

Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society, Inc.

525 NE 15th St., Suite 100

Miami, FL 33132-1411

Ofc:  305.401.0378

Cell: 786.556.5156 

Fax: 305.375.8054

OLRM Run for the Roses!

Thanks to the Newport Beach, CA and Southwest Airlines crew and friends for another amazingly successful Run for Our Little Roses, which has now raised over $20,000 for Our Little Roses. Above is their Run for the Roses with the girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

English program earns Girl Scout top honor

Kelly Telljohann, 17, teaches the English words for colors to a girl at Our Little Roses in Honduras, using the ESL kit she developed. Telljohann was awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award for her project.

Kelly Telljohann, a Ballantyne Country Club resident and junior at Providence Day School, received the Girl Scout Gold Award May 5 for her English as a Second Language (ESL) project that was so successful it has been incorporated into three ESL programs spanning from Charlotte to Honduras.

“I know its being used and it feels so good,” said Telljohann, 17, who has been a Girl Scout for 10 years and is part of Troop 1405.

The Gold Award is the Girl Scouts’ highest award and is presented for an individual’s project that involves identifying a need, developing an action plan, leading and delegating, and results in a final product that is sustainable by another party.

When Telljohann traveled to Honduras as a short-term mission trip in July 2011 to visit Our Little Roses, a home for girls rescued from the streets of San Pedro Sula – the murder capital of the world – she saw the girls’ desire to learn English. Some have the opportunity to attend the home’s bilingual school and need English practice, while some attend public school and need a more basic introduction to English. Learning English increases their opportunities and earning potential upon graduation.

Telljohann spent 160 hours developing an ESL kit to feed the girls’ motivation and to help the missionaries connect with the girls.

Read the entire article from the South Charlotte News here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/31/4078074/english-program-earns-girl-scout.html

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/31/4078074/english-program-earns-girl-scout.html#storylink=cpyRead

WHO IS THAT BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE MIRROR?

Katherine took the mirror and smiled at it!  She is the beautiful girl in the mirror! For the first time the girls got their own mirror. This is a special acrylic not breakable mirror that every girl got to draw her own faces or the faces of the girl in front of them. The girls enjoyed this activity that was basically for the older girls, but as there was enough material many of the little girls were able to do it. With bright eyes and showing surprise Martita, a 6 years old, asked:  "Are you sending me to do the activity that the big girls were doing yesterday?"  Her eyes opened wide when the teacher answered "Yes, go to the dining room to do the activity".   

SPIRITUAL GROWING

"El Espiritu de Dios esta en este lugar"  (The Spirit of God is in this place) Was one of the hymns that the girls from Our Little Roses sang last Sunday 14 when Rev. Gustavo Galeano, the full time priest of OLRM celebrated the First Eucharist as the formal Chaplain of OLRM.  

Poet Priest Spencer Reece, Revda. Debra Andrew and Rev. Gustavo Galeano

Having a full time priest at OLRM is a blessing, but having a woman priest and a poet priest to do the First Eucharist at Holy Family Chapel was a big event! The Celebrations at Holy Family Chapel will be every other Sunday as the girls continue attending San Pablo Episcopal Church at Colonia Satelite.  

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Chinese New Year, The Year of the Snake, was a great reason to host a fundraiser for our girls at Our Little Roses. We had over 40 women, many longtime supporters of the girls, dressed in red (for good luck!) bringing in the New Year together.


 The Asian food was plentiful and delicious, the house decorated with all forms of Chinese Good Luck symbols and of course, lots of red! It was a luncheon that lasted hours. February is a good month to host a fundraiser as people are ready to party again after a break from the holidays. Coming up with a theme that is out of the ordinary helps make a fundraiser just that bit different and exciting for people to attend. Spreading the word about Our Little Roses is a way to get more volunteers and supporters. We handed out a list of ways each person could help us make our week with the girls a success. We suggested that the girls needed not only donations of clothes but books, craft supplies, help designing workshops and writing letters. And lastly, it was very successful in the money-raising department. Let’s share ideas of how we all help our girls. Ann, Charlotte Padrinos 2/2013

Our Little Roses Film chronicles the making of a film about an American-born Episcopal priest who travels to Honduras, the poorest Spanish-speaking country in the Western Hemisphere and, in that, the murder capital of the world - San Pedro Sula - to teach poetry to a score of orphaned teenage girls at Our Little Roses orphanage, at the edge of one of the city's ram shackle barrios.



Learn more at www.ourlittlerosesfilm.blogspot.com

OLR Documentary Film Blog

In December 2012, a documentary film crew led by Director Brad Coley began filming at an all-girls orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Our Little Roses Ministries houses, feeds and educates more than 60 girls at a time, creating a model exception within its 10-foot walls against the backdrop of extreme poverty, violence and lawlessness surrounding the home - "a children's holocaust," a local priest says.

Drawn by a girl who lives at Our Little Roses

San Pedro Sula is a broken promise. Everyday, the metropolitan bus terminal fills with new faces of campesinos who have left tight-knit, barter-and-trade communities to find work in the nation's bustling industrial capital. But here, even low-paying jobs are hard to come by. Empty church pews suggest a breakdown in religious faith. Gangs are community. The harshest sign of that undelivered promise: a city churning with abandoned children - most of them girls.

And that's usually how girls find their way into Our Little Roses.

Each girl who comes through Our Little Roses must confront the same paradox: she must lose everything to get here. But once here, she stands to gain far more than she, or her parents, ever had. Read more...

A Year of Giving

Over a year ago, Dr. Jensy Maldonado, who grew up at Our Little Roses, flew to Charlotte, N.C., to help The Charlotte Padrinos raise funds for the new OLR Dental Clinic in San Pedro Sula. While in Charlotte, Dr. Jensy as many call her, spent a day "shadowing" a local oral surgeon and his staff. Her visit sparked a desire and compassion within them to do something to support the work of Our Little Roses.

On Dec. 13, the entire staff of the Oral Facial & Implant Surgery Center, Charlotte, N.C., and oral surgeon Dr. Priveer Sharma presented a check for $1,150 for Our Little Roses to our Charlotte volunteers. Much to the surprise of the Charlotte team, immediately following Dr. Jensy's visit with Dr. Sharma and his staff in 2011, all of the employees began donating to a "pot" for Our Little Roses through different office events.

Their surprise gift was donated to the Beverley Allison Memorial Fund so that with the generous 2 to 1 challenge gift from an OLRFMS advisory board member is actually worth $3,450. According to Dr. Sharma and his staff, they have already begun filling the pot again for another year of giving. Their generosity and commitment are a blessing for our girls. Dr. Jensy's visit to Dr. Sharma's office was made possible by one of his patients, who asked if she could shadow him for a day.

Dr. Jensy was supported from childhood through completion of her doctorate in dentistry with annual sponsorship gifts through Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society's Sponsor Program. For the past year she has run the OLR Dental Clinic in San Pedro Sula, which provides the OLR girls and neighbors in the community with dental care.

Sharing the story of Our Little Roses provides opportunities for others to get involved with and support this vital, life-changing ministry. Please share your OLR story with others by sending your story and photos to:  Kristen@ourlittleroses.org.

PROTECTED INNOCENCE CHALLENGE

To bring awareness to the worldwide challenge of Human Trafficking

Sponsored by:

OUR LITTLE ROSES MINISTRIES

Chairwoman: Diana Frade

EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES APPROXIMATELY 100,000 GIRLS AND BOYS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 12-14 ARE ENSLAVED BY HUMAN TRAFFICKERS

On September 26, 2012 President Barack Obama issued an executive order aimed at strengthening his administration's efforts to combat human trafficking. He praised the work of Christian groups, noting that they are "answering the Bible's call. Referring to it as "modern slavery," Obama spoke about "the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking."

As a Faith Community we are called to raise awareness in our community about the issue of modern day slavery, and to participate in the challenge of ensuring the PROTECTED INNOCENCE of our children.

_______________________________________________________

Read Sarah’s story

Sarah Graves looks straight ahead as she calmly recalled the night a man paid $200 on a Boston street to have sex with her. She was 16, homeless, and desperate for food, shelter and stability. He was the first of dozens of men who would buy her thin, frail body from a human trafficker who exploited her vulnerabilities and made her a prisoner for years. "If I didn't call him daddy, he would slap me, beat me choke me," said Graves, 24, of the man who organized the deals. "It's about love and thinking you're part of a family and a team. I couldn't leave because I thought he would kill me."

JOIN US ON FEB 16 FROM 9:00am TO 1:30pm TO VIEW THE DOCUMENTARY SEX+ MONEY, AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THIS HAPPENED TO SARAH AND SO MANY OTHERS LIKE HER.

Sex+Money: A National Search for Human Worth is a documentary about domestic minor sex trafficking and the modern-day abolitionist movement fighting to stop it. Since September 2009, the crew has traveled to over 30 states and conducted more than 75 interviews with federal agents, victims, politicians, activists, psychologists, porn-stars, among others.

Hosted by: St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 So. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, FL.

Saturday, February 16, 2013 – 9:00AM – 1:30PM – Parish Hall

Continental Breakfast and Coffee  --  RSVP Deacon Clelia: 561-276-4541

Producer Assistant

Producer Assistant is the title that was given to Heather Hertz after she joined the editor and filming crew that are doing a documentary film about Our Little Roses Ministries. 

Heather a 22 year old from the Transition Program showed her happiness and willingness to help the crew to get the information needed to make the documentary as successful as possible. Her knowledge as an Electrical Engineer student at the Autonomous Universal University makes her the perfect PA. Thanks Heather for your support!

25 YEARS!

This year Our Little Roses marks 25 years of transforming the lives of the girl child in Honduras. Help us reach 1000 LIKES -- or what if we reached 2500 LIKES -- by the end of 2013! Help us share the good news of OUR LITTLE ROSES by sharing this with your FB friends -- and asking them to LIKE Our Little Roses -- and share with their FB friends. 25 YEARS OF CHANGING LIVES!
You can find us on Facebook here - Our Little Roses on Facebook

It is with tremendous sadness that I share with you the passing of Beverley Allison

Dear Friends,

It is with tremendous sadness that I share with you the passing of Beverley Allison, executive director of Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society (OLRFMS). Beverley died in her sleep in her home in Gordonsville, Va., some time late Monday evening/early Tuesday morning.  

 

Prior to her work with OLRFMS, Beverley worked in the news industry, including for ABC News Bureau in Washington D.C. She began her foreign mission work in the mid-70s, helping to create a new branch of the South American Mission Society (SAMS), where she stayed from 1976 to 1985, working mostly in the southern region of the continent, namely Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. This would eventually lead to her work with me as Bishop of Honduras, establishing the Committee to Assist the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras in the mid-1980s and later OLRFMS, where she has served as executive director since its founding.

We have established a special fund in her honor, the Beverley Allison Memorial Fund, to support the ongoing work and needs of OLRFMS and Our Little Roses Ministry in Honduras.

More information will follow at a later date on how we will honor Beverley and her service and ministry to OLRFMS. In the meantime, I ask you to keep the staff and ministry of OLRFMS in your prayers as we continue our work to support Our Little Roses Ministry in providing a safe, secure and nurturing home for abandoned, abused and at-risk girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Blessings,

+ Leo Frade

Chair-OLRFMS

Charlotte Padrinos hosted their 3rd annual gala dinner to benefit Our Little Roses Home for Girls

On Saturday, September 29, 2012, the Charlotte Padrinos hosted their third annual invitation only gala dinner to benefit Our Little Roses Home for Girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  The dinner took place at 7 pmat the home of Kristen and Al Guarnieri.

The Charlotte Padrinos ("Godparents"), a group of Charlotte families and their children have been traveling to Honduras since 2004 to support Our Little Roses Home for Girls.  The Charlotte Padrinos are spreading the word throughout the Charlotte community about this mission of hope through events such as the September 29th gala dinner, neighborhood donut sales, wine tastings and other fundraising events. 

Over $18,500 was raised at the dinner and will go directly to Our Little Roses to be used to assist in breaking of the cycle of poverty and oppression of girls in Honduras.  These girls have been rescued after suffering abuse.  They are nurtured, loved and educated at Our Little Roses Home so, when they become adults, they can be part of a better future for themselves and Honduras.  In addition to financial support for the Home, the “godparents” support the girls throughout the year through personal visits, notes of encouragement, English language tutorials and in other ways. 

“We're so proud to be involved in such a worthwhile organization like Our Little Roses Home for Girls.” said Kristen Guarnieri.  “It's tremendously fulfilling to know that we're able to make a difference in these girls' lives and help break the cycle of poverty and abuse.    Our goal is to spread this message of hope to others in the Charlotte community, and make them aware of the many ways in which they can join this cause and help change the world, one girl at a time.”      

Kristen

Christmas is coming!

Please take a look at our new Christmas Flier and consider donating to the girls this holiday season, thank you. :)

Christmas 2012 Flier

SHARING GOD'S LOVE

 Mandy Minger, member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, PA writes -

  

"On the day we arrived, we were visiting the girls in the home and Heidy was combing my niece, Mady's, hair. A few of the little girls were giggling and watching and I was tickling them when Rocío walked over. She sat on my lap and then settled in on my shoulder and quickly fell asleep. I couldn't believe it and asked one of the tias where her bedroom was so that I could put her down for a nap. When I stood up, she sleepily pointed back to the chair outside her room indicating that she wanted me to sit there in the breeze and she dozed off again. I felt pure joy as I held Rocío. It was like holding an angel and I knew that I was in the right place at the right time doing God's work. I'm smiling as I recall how happy I felt watching her sleep on my shoulder. I love that she trusted me enough to hang her arms around my neck and sleep peacefully." 

EDUCATION THE KEY FOR SUCCESS

In today's modern and competitive society, OLRM continues making education a priority providing all the girls with an education of excellence according to their abilities to make them shine and be successful in life.  This past month of June, Heydi completed her pre-school education, Diana and Ismelda completed their elementary school graduating from Sixth Grade, Belkis Jasmin received her Diploma as a Certified Nurse's Aide, which was her dream, and Olga graduated from College with a degree in Business Administration.

 

CONGRATULATION GIRLS!! 

It was not a Dream!

Ronald McDonald visited OLRM!

Full of excitement, the girls from Our Little Roses received a visit from Ronald MacDonald as part of a campaign by McDonald Fast Food Restaurants to "Plant a Tree". The purpose of Ronald visiting both the Home and the School was to create awareness to not only plant a tree, but also to protect the environment for humanity to enjoy providing a planet with clean water, ample food and good health.

Our Little Roses is on Facebook!

Please connect with us on Facebook! We'll be sharing many photos and news posts, and we would love for you to help us spread the word!

Our Little Roses Facebook Page

New Vision, New Life!!

 

This is the story of Naomi, a 6 year old girl who at this tender age was in need of a third eye surgery to correct a problem that she was born with that caused her eyes to be severely crossed.  Naomi is the third of 4 sisters rescued by the Juvenile Court and she was the most affected due to the malnourishment in which she was growing up.  Naomi's problem was not only her vision, but also her chronic sinusitis that made it impossible to have the eye surgery. Under treatment for chronic sinusitis she was not able to eat ice cream or have cold drinks and keeping her away from that was almost impossible.  On May 5th her sinusitis gave her a break and one of the Tias left immediately with Naomi to Tegucigalpa, the Capital City of Honduras, located 4 hours from San Pedro Sula where the home is located and an eye surgeon who was a specialist in this condition was able to perform the surgery in one of the most prestigious clinics in Honduras.  Our Little Roses thanks the generosity of one of our Board Members who provided the financial support for her to have the eye surgery. There is no doubt that this successful surgery has made a tremendous difference in Naomi's vision and quality of life.  After she returned to San Pedro Sula, Naomi told Tía Caty, who is one of the staff:  "Now I see only one of you, before I saw two of you at a time".